When Dr
Salim Ali, "birdman" of India, came to explore the birdlife in this part
of Kerala in the 1930s, he found a variety and richness of birdlife, unrivalled
by any place in India other than perhaps the northeast. His discovery that the
Ceylon frogmouth breeds here soon followed and half a century later, he recommended
that a 25 square km area be set aside for posterity: thus was born Salim Ali
Bird Sanctuary, Thattekad.
Situated on
the north bank of the Periyar river, Thattekad's rich evergreen forest and undulating
rocky hillocks is home to many endemic and migratory species and is just a two
hour drive from Kochi, making it a perfect getaway from anywhere in India. We
stayed at the Junglebird Lodge, a homestay within the sanctuary manned by four
generations of one family! Mouth watering Kerala cuisine interspersed by engrossing
birding was our routine for the next three days.
A lake next
to our homestay set the stage for an array of water dwellers. Kingfishers
(white throated, common and pied), darters, cormorants, a bronze winged jacana
and a whole flock of lesser whistling ducks were the permanent inhabitants
here. The air was filled with characteristic whistles as the ducks took off in
unison. Drongos were aplenty (greater racket tailed, ashy, bronze) but it was
thrilling to spot the drongo cuckoo, a cuckoo that looks just like a drongo so
that it can lay bits eggs in their nests: we had to.look carefully for the give-away
slender curved bill. On the first evening, we were treated to a "bird show":
a puddle in a rock served as the evening watering hole for a variety of small
birds as they trooped in one by one to quench their thirst while keeping a
cautious eye on us. Blue flycatchers (white bellied, Tickell's and blue
throated), the Indian blue robin, the orange headed thrush, black throated
munias, Asian paradise flycatchers and dark fronted babblers were the stars
that kept the audience engrossed. The two toned piew-piew of the Indian pitta preceded
it's arrival shortly after dusk, and the bird looked no less pretty when
illuminated by our flashlight. It was well past dusk when we returned home to
celebrate over hot crisp vadas washed down with fresh lime juice. Ah, the good
life!
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| The Salim Ali trail |
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| Yellow browed bulbul by Dr L Vijaya |
We spent
the next day doing some relaxed birding on our own on the Salim Ali trail, a well
marked path close to the sanctuary entrance, while our guides took the majority
of our group for a day at Munnar. Orioles (all three species: golden, black
naped and black hooded) maintained a constant yellow parade in the canopy above.
Heart spotted and brown capped pygmy woodpeckers were lifers. Grey jungle fowls
scurried across our path. Hill mynas kept up a metallic series of calls
overhead. Green imperial and grey headed green pigeons tested our neck craning
skills overhead. The birding was more leisurely though the absence of our
guides forced us to keep our eyes and ears open: no "spoon feeding
today"!
The next day
was largely spent at Urulanthanni, a rocky outcrop that affords an amphitheater
like view of birds around us. Here Thattekad literally came alive: grey
hornbills cackled from close up, the Asian fairy bluebird glistened black and
blue in the morning sun and the flame throated bulbul showed exactly why it was
named so. A crested goshawk was nicknamed "diaper raptor" for its
characteristic thick white feathers seen around its tail base in flight. Perhaps
most iconic of Thattekad, the Malabar trogon and the Sri Lankan frogmouth, both
followed in quick succession! The trogon male is a rich panoply of black, red
and pink, while the cinnamon brown female was almost as pretty as they perched
silently above the frenzily excited birding group below. The frogmouth pair we
saw were impossibly camouflaged in their brown tree roosts, now and then
opening a lazy eye and swaying slightly like the brown leaves around them. Our
whoops of excitement were matched by our guides' sighs of relief: now would either
host or guest want to finish a tiger safari in Kanha or Ranthambore without
seeing its iconic inhabitant?
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| Sri Lankan frogmouth pair by Dr L Vijaya |
Back at
Urulanthanni the last morning, we were treated to a second round of lifers for "dessert".
The black baza, black and white all over, flew overhead before settling on a
treetop. It was most satisfying to first hear and then see the greater flameback
woodpecker, and carefully identify the features distinguishing it from the ubiquitous urban
black rumped flameback. The "peter-peter"
call of the banded bay cuckoo was followed by the sighting of this delightfully
brown banded bird. Then came the "mother of all lifers" which even
our guides had last seen nine years ago: the Sri Lanka bay owl! This beautiful,
rare owl was spotted roosting at a nearby impossible to locate position and
continued to do so despite the rush of eager humans below. What a sendoff for
us!
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| Sri Lankan bay owl by Dr L Vijaya |
So if you
have a free weekend and want to know how Dr Salim Ali's wonderful bird paradise
has been preserved for posterity, you know where to head!
